Whats the traffic like!

We will be arriving on a Saturday morning about 9:30am and would like to know if the traffic is heavy for that time of morning. We are unsure whether to catch a taxi or shuttle bus to our hotel and have been told that if heavy traffic catch a shuttle!!!!

Whats the traffic like!

Only take a cab if you absolutely must. They are expensive here. All the locals take the bus. Tourist trolleys are too expensive too. Save that cash for drinks!

Whats the traffic like!

Traffic won%26#39;t be as heavy on a Sat morning because you won%26#39;t have commuter traffic. But, you will still have a significant number of locals heading to the beach since the weekends are really the only days they get to go...

Weekend arrivals are usually less hectic, unless you arrive at the time of a major sporting event.

A couple of additional considerations; the city bus (not to confuse with Shuttle)system has fairly restrictive luggage limitations (backpack-ok, a couple of suitcases- uh uh).

Driving a car/fighting the traffic/paying high parking fees in Waikiki are things I try to limit to the extent possible. There are many Shuttles, but depending on where you%26#39;re staying, the preceeding drop-offs can be tiresome; when you have a whole bunch of things you%26#39;d rather be doing).

Our usual routeine is to take a cab from HNL to Waikiki (had early flight last year and the ';with tip Oahu cost of about $30'; was less than home to Albuquerque Airport!). We do rent a car while in Waikiki for a day-trip around the Island (or longer when we also stay on the North Shore or Kailua). You%26#39;ll find fairly good car rental deals (much lower than @ the airport)in things like ';This Week on Oahu'; available in the baggage claim area and all over town.

(PS: mrsfuzz-Thank you for pepper comment)

I hear traffic can be pretty bad. Can anyone say its as bad as LA, NY, or Atlanta? Is just is just mainly rush hours in the morning and afternoon, or can it be all day?

Kama,

de nada.

atlmom:

Traffic is at it%26#39;s worst during morning commute into Honolulu from approx 6-9 a.m. and out of town from 3-6 p.m. It%26#39;s a big city and has big city traffic. For example, my husband works just 15 miles away and it is an hour drive.

Biggest problem on the island is that there aren%26#39;t enough alternate routes. If there is an accident, it can back traffic up for hours. If the accident involves a fatality, they%26#39;ll shut the road down completely (in one direction)--even if it%26#39;s H-1 freeway and it%26#39;s rush hour.

Jillybean...

Traffic will be ';passable'; on Sat AM.

But make sure to tell the taxi driver to go via Nimitz Highway, and not the freeway, because even on Sat mornings the freeway can get fairly congested from Middle Street to Punahou, while Nimitz should be OK (plus the views are better after you pass through Iwilei).

As to the gentlelady from Atlanta%26#39;s query:

Yes, Honolulu traffic is as bad as any major city during rush hours, lightening up a little bit (but still very slow) during the rest of the day. And, Waikiki can become all but gridlocked on Friday/Saturday nights.

The roads in Honolulu are mostly older, narrow, full of parked cars (parking is a huge problem on an island), with driveways everywhere. The freeway was ';reverse-engineered'; into the city so the on/off-ramps are the worst you have ever seen.

The salvation is that many of the major roads are all or mostly one-way (Beretania, King, Kalakaua, Ala Wai, etc.) which allows them to time the stop lights fairly well. And, no matter how crowded it is, being an island, the congestion can only extend so far...not stretch over four counties like Southern California.